Object Linking and Embedding - Criticism

Criticism

There was a technology, called OpenDoc, which tried to compete with OLE. It was considered by interested companies (competitors of Microsoft) to be both easier to use and more robust than OLE. However, OpenDoc does have some known problems. OpenDoc allowed users to view and edit information across applications, directly in competition with Microsoft's proprietary OLE standard. These "features" came at a cost. A consortium called the Component Integration Laboratories ("CIL") was established in 1993 by some Microsoft competitors to create OpenDoc as an "open-source" standard for cross-platform linking and embedding.

Microsoft unilaterally announced that its OLE proprietary technology would be incorporated directly into MS Windows operating system. Microsoft then required OLE compatibility as a condition of Microsoft's certification of an application's compatibility with Windows 95.

Microsoft initially announced that applications using OpenDoc would be deemed compatible with OLE, and would receive certification for Windows 95. Microsoft later announced that applications using OpenDoc would not receive automatic certification, and might not receive certification at all. Microsoft withheld specifications and debugged versions of OLE until after it had released its competing applications.